[Jennifer Reeser]

Cathy, Gail, thank you for letting me know about this thread! We passed a bit of a harrowing night. Much love to you both. Gail, my thoughts are with you.

This morning, there are emergency vehicles on the corner with lights flashing. A neighbor three houses away took a tree through his roof, and now sports a blue tarp reminiscent of the storms of 2005, when Rita devastated us a few weeks after Katrina. My house was partially demolished, then.

There were some unsettling thuds to our own roof last night, but it seems we are okay this morning. I kept vigil. Those gusts were something to behold. My father is out of power, but he has the generator going, and they are unharmed. Our street sign lies in the ditch. Believe me, we were blessed. Five hundred people were rescued here in my own city, Lake Charles, the day before yesterday.

The past few days have had us running into the inner room, from tornado scares, but no flooding whatsoever. We have been fortunate.

The Port Arthur-Beaumont area, we're seeing, is basically under water -- every waterway overflowing, and the Civic Center is completely flooded. They are evacuating the evacuees. They had an overwhelming 25 inches of rain in a mere 24 hours. Beaumont is in seriously bad shape, and our prayers and thoughts are with them. Our "Cajun Navy" has volunteered to help out. We have been so very fortunate, by comparison.

Jennifer

[Terese Coe]

Jennifer, yes, you and your fam are blessed and lucky too~~it's good to be out of harm's way. It sounds harrowing indeed. Glad it was not any worse than that.

Sam, if you have power, please let us know you and yours are safe! I know that's the last of the worries, letting others know, so we will be patient.

[R. S. Gwynn]

Beaumont is fine, thanks, but the water was turned off early this a.m. because of a pump failure.

Virtually all of the national media reports about Beaumont have been wrong. Port Arthur took terrible flooding, but Beaumont's updated drainage system (post-Rita, post-Ike) worked. Yes, the streets were flooded, and there were lots of flooded cars and some house flooding, especially in outlying communities that were under mandatory evacuation orders. It's bad enough without exaggerated reports making it sound worse. Most folks didn't lose utilities or other services. Wind is a much worse problem in hurricanes, and we didn't get any.

There is lots of bad information floating around here, especially on Facebook--dams and levees bursting, chemical plants blowing up, etc. The Port Arthur Civic Center, which was a shelter for about 200, did get a foot or so of water. Everyone sat in the stands until they could be moved elsewhere. I just heard someone say to turn off water heaters because they could boil over--ever hear of thermostats, folks? Do you turn off your water heater when you go on vacation?

If you want real problems, look at Houston. We're fine, though our personal hygiene may suffer for a few days. Please check my Facebook page for other information.

[Andrew Mandelbaum]

I don't know about boiling over but if the water supply is shut off to the the water heater do to the mess and you use the water remaining in it, you will then burn out your element if it remains on with no supply. FWIW.

[Allen Tice]

I was on the point of screaming Sam !!? when your post appeared.

Gas-fired water heaters without a fail-safe automatic gas shut-off when electric power fails (if there are any such) could pose a hazard.

[Jennifer Reeser]

"Denial" is one of the places through which we must pass, on the path to acceptance of reality, wholeness, and (ideally), wisdom.

We here on the Gulf Coast have been through an event which is not only traumatic, but cataclysmic. Historically unprecedented. It has been crippling not only in a physical sense, but in an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual sense, as well. One of the most common ways to deal with grief is by going around telling everyone, "I'm fine" -- when everyone can see, we are not fine.

It is a totally natural and understandable reaction. We all move through the stages of loss at different rates, and thank God for those with the patience to bear with our B.S.

We will work through it, in time.

J

[R. S. Gwynn]

I am fine. We are fine. My family members are fine. My neighbors are fine. Many, many are not fine. If you want to do something, make a contribution to one of the many agencies that are helping people who badly need help. The Cajun Navy, which has done exemplary work all over the region, has some suggestions:

https://www.facebook.com/LaCajunNavy/

[R. S. Gwynn]

I may be the Queen of de Nial, but I am in Beaumont. If the water stays off, I may have to bathe in milk. We don't drink much of the stuff, but a gallon jug was the smallest size I could get. Gas is cheaper at $2.08/gal, but I'm not going to bathe in it. For now anyway. Water and ice are plentiful at the store.

[Jennifer Reeser]

Speaking of our amazing Cajun Navy -- on my shift at our emergency hurricane shelter early this morning, our shelter coordinator says that rescuers found a nursing home in Vinton yesterday, with some 90 residents trapped for two days without power. One parking lot held thirteen school buses filled with victims -- babies fainting from hunger, and the elderly, likewise.

We have an adorable 3 month old there at the shelter. He was wearing a sleeper with boats this morning. Holding him over breakfast before dawn, his grandmother said, "Well, we got out of the house by boat, so I guess it is in keeping with the theme."

Hurricane humor.

J

[R. S. Gwynn]

Trump disrespects suffering Beaumont; lands at fortified Louisiana military compound instead.

Hurricane humor.